


Stumbling Through Love

by Realta (Daniele)



Series: Tumblr Short Stories [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkwardness, Dorks in Love, Each chapter is a small complete story, Fluff, Gaara and Naruto are probably both on the asexuality spectrum somewhere, It's just a series of connected short stories, M/M, PWP without Porn, They're on their twenties and never dated anyone else
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 08:38:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6187732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daniele/pseuds/Realta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They have no idea what they're doing, but they know they're having fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Step

“So, Gaara…” he looked up askance as he saw Naruto standing by the door to his hotel room. They had just spent a couple of hours catching up, and Naruto had decided to go home, but it seemed he still had something else to say.

He was curious when he noted Naruto’s cheeks were red. “Yes?”

“I was wondering… if you want to have ramen with me tomorrow night?” he asked nervously.

“Sure.” he agreed easily, still wondering what was wrong. Naruto’s blush got worse.

“I mean… as in a date.” he muttered.

“…Oh.” Gaara’s eyes widened. Naruto laughed nervously.

“So… Yeah! Want to go?” his voice almost sounded like a whine this time. Gaara studied him, feeling anxious, unsure what to respond. The silence dragged, heavy and awkward, until Naruto forced a grin, “Okay, see you later!”

“Wait!” he called quickly, standing, when Naruto made to rush out of his room. Naruto froze, the door still open in front of him, and turned back hesitantly. “I don’t know what to say.” Gaara explained, hoping his friend would understand. “I’m not against going on a date with you, but I don’t want to jeopardize our friendship.”

A breathless chuckle escaped Naruto’s lips. “As if I would stop being your friend just because we screwed up a date!” he dismissed the mere thought as ridiculous. Gaara relaxed, trusting him. Naruto wasn’t fickle, and he wouldn’t go back on his word so easily. “Does that mean you’re coming?” he asked hesitantly, hopeful.

“…Yes.” he nodded once, after thinking for a couple of seconds. This time, Naruto’s grin was honest and truly delighted.

“Awesome! I’ll pick you up tomorrow at six!” he cried enthusiastically, then quickly left the room.

Gaara watched the closed door in silence for a couple of minutes. Then, a small smile curved his lips.


	2. First Date

Gaara knew the basics of how to woo a woman. He had heard stories from Kankurou plenty of times. But he was skeptical if any of the advice he had gotten from his brother was appropriate for dating a man… Or even appropriate, period.

Nonetheless, he got dressed in his best casual clothes and bought him flowers. Instead of buying roses, he got him marigolds, because they were orange. He also couldn’t bring himself to hurt a plant over a date, so he bought the flowers potted and very alive. It was a very beautiful plant too – the Yamanakas certainly had green thumbs.

Naruto had called earlier to ask him to meet him up at one of the parks in front of the ninja academy. He felt somewhat inadequate when he met up with Naruto and saw him in his usual clothes. Naruto’s eyes widened.

“…Wow. You look edi-… erm, handsome!” Naruto whistled, walking up to him. He awkwardly patted down his own clothes. “I guess I should have worn something nicer, huh?”

“You’re fine.” Gaara reassured him with a small smile. “Here, I brought this for you.” he offered him the small pot. Naruto seemed surprised and confused, and Gaara decided following Kankurou’s advice had definitely not been one of his brightest ideas.

But then, Naruto gifted him with a beautiful smile. “I really like it! Thank you! Let’s go?” he held the pot on one arm and reached his hand towards Gaara.

Gaara hesitantly took his hand, not sure if that was what Naruto wanted, but he was relieved he had assumed right when Naruto interlaced their fingers together and pulled him towards Ichiraku.

Naruto was oddly silent. He could see his friend was trying to say something, but he just couldn’t get the words out. He would take a breath to speak, and then cut himself short before a sound escaped his lips.

Naruto was as nervous as he was.

Arriving on Ichiraku and seeing it closed didn’t help their nerves.

“Wait. It’s not supposed to be closed. Hey, lady, do you know why Ichiraku’s closed?”

The middle-aged woman sweeping the street by the store front looked pleased by Naruto’s addressing of her. “Hokage-sama! A fight between shinobi broke out earlier today, and they had to close to fix the damage.”

Naruto scowled. “I hope Teuchi got their names, because they’re definitely getting a reprimand for his.” he might as well be cursing by his tone of voice. The woman nodded.

“Oh, he did. His family isn’t home right now, so you might want to return later, Hokage-sama.”

“I definitely will.” he promised. He walked away then, and Gaara followed him, not sure where he was going.

But he was really just getting them out of the woman’s eyesight. Naruto stopped and chewed on his lip, before saying. “Huh, so…” they were silent for several seconds. “…Want to eat instant ramen at my place?” Naruto’s voice was defeated, and he seemed certain Gaara would refuse. He wasn’t sure why.

“That would be nice.” he reassured him. It wasn’t like it was Naruto’s fault Ichiraku was closed. His friend’s mood brightened once again, and the tension on his shoulders slowly drained away.

“Great! Let’s go, then!” Naruto strode down the street, dragging him along enthusiastically. This time, he didn’t seem hesitant to talk – but he was still nervous, because Naruto only ever babbled this much when he was nervous.

Gaara walked by his side and smiled at him, not having anything to add to his rushed monologue about nothing and everything, but thankfully, Naruto didn’t seem to mind. 

Gaara was just happy to listen to his voice, just as Naruto seemed happy to talk to him.


	3. Third Date

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Naruto growled as they stood in front of the closed doors to Ichiraku for the third time, on their third date. “I swear, someone’s spying on us and doing this on purpose!”

The first time, two drunk chuunins had gotten into a fight. The second, an overeager genin had set off a very destructive weapon inside. Naruto didn’t even want to know what happened the third time, he just dragged Gaara away without asking him if he wanted to go, like the first two times.

That was fine, because he wanted to go. Dating Naruto was very fun, though he failed to see a difference between dating him and hanging out with him. Except in the fact Naruto was always nervous, and they were both dressed in nicer clothes.

It didn’t take long at all for them to arrive at Naruto’s place, because he was walking fast in his annoyance. “We’re never going on a date at Ichiraku’s again.” he decided. “This time, I have the groceries to cook you something nice, at least.”

“You’re cooking?” Gaara was interested. He knew Naruto could cook, but he was always too busy to do so. He bought take out most of the time.

“Yes! Since you can’t have the first, you’re going to eat the second best ramen in all of Konoha!” Naruto boasted with a grin, and Gaara was even more interested.

He wasn’t a ramen person like Naruto, but Ichiraku’s ramen was very good compared to other restaurants. He was curious to try Naruto’s version.

“I’ll cook it up in a moment! Can you take care of this baby while I’m cooking?” he gave him back the potted marigold Gaara had gotten for him today.

“Sure.” he agreed. Naruto had gotten a planter, in which he had placed the first two flowers  Gaara had gotten for him. It was a very wide planter that took most of one side of his balcony – Gaara had been pleased to see it. He took it to mean that Naruto really liked the flowers, and he also enjoyed their dates as much as Gaara did, and wanted them to continue happening.

He transplanted the marigold carefully, but still did it faster than Naruto took to cook, so he joined him in the kitchen. He thought about offering Naruto his help, but there were three of Naruto’s clones helping him with cooking and setting the table, so he doubted any help was needed.

He wasn’t kept waiting for long.

“Try my ramen, and tell me it isn’t the second best of all Konoha.” Naruto looked to him with a grin. Gaara took a spoon to try the broth first. Naruto was watching him expectantly as he took the first sip. Then, he tried the noodles. “So?” he asked, somewhat impatient.

“It’s not.” Naruto’s face fell. Gaara quickly added, “Your ramen is the best in Konoha.”

It was much better than Ichiraku’s. Maybe it was because Naruto knew what he liked, because he had never eaten a ramen that spicy, and Gaara loved spicy food.

Naruto blushed, then he scoffed. “If you want a kiss, just ask for one. You don’t need to lie to me to get one.” he joked.

“I’m not lying.” he hesitated. “But I want a kiss.”

They hadn’t kissed yet. Gaara had half expected Naruto to kiss him on their first date, but his friend seemed to be walking on eggshells around him every time they labeled their outings ‘dates’, and Gaara hadn’t wanted to press him.

Naruto’s flush became even deeper, and he looked uncomfortable. Before Gaara could decide to take back his request and apologize, Naruto leaned over the table and kissed his lips softly.

Gaara held his breath as the tip of Naruto’s tongue ran gently over his lips. Then, Naruto backed away and grinned. “You’re so hot, that I got my mouth burnt by kissing you.”

He blinked, then shook his head, smiling faintly. “You were heavy handed on the pepper.” he pointed out, then took another sip of the delicious ramen.

“As long as you like it…” Naruto grinned, and this time, he looked less nervous than before. It was as if the kiss had been another barrier they had surpassed – not the first one, but likely still not the last.

Gaara had been hesitant about all of it when Naruto first asked him out, but now he really wanted to keep crossing those barriers and see where that got them both. He had the feeling it definitely would be a good place.


End file.
